All roads lead to the same destination
by The Sangheili Mutant
Summary: The brothers investigate a string of spontaneous combustions in northern Wisconsin, thinking it's the work of a witch. But in the world of the supernatural, nothing is what it seems, is it? Warning: character death *AU
1. Chapter 1: The Case

Disclaimer: I do not own Sam Winchester, Dean Winchester, their sweet Impala, or their kick ass show. I just own this little story based off my little idea. *Any relations to persons in this story are completely coincidental!

* * *

Chapter One: The case

"Let's go, Dean!" Sam yelled, ready to get back on the road. They had to drive 200 miles, at the very least, to get to the town of Abrams, Wisconsin.

"Hold on!" Dean hollered back behind the doors. Sam glanced at his watch: 7 PM. Which meant they'd arrive at Wisconsin by 9, and Abrams by 11 if they were really lucky.

Dean swung the bathroom door open, clad only in a towel which hung around his waist tightly.

"You're not even dressed yet!" the younger Winchester practically yelled, throwing his hands in the air in exasperation.

"Dude, relax! We got time. I mean, it's not like we have a deadline to be in Wisconsin." the older brother quipped, heading towards his bed.

"No, but if we want to get whatever's burning people alive in Abrams, then we should get there sooner rather than later." Sam said, annoyed with his brother's nonchalant attitude.

"Oh, I do, believe me." Dean replied, throwing on his clothes as Sam packed up their belongings in the bathroom. "Whatever's barbecuing the town's residents needs to be stopped. I just don't see why we can't wait until morning to go there. I mean, by the time we get to Winter Wonder Land, it'll be late as hell."

Sam returned with the packed toiletries and tossed them in his duffel bag.

"Late at night beats early in the morning. We'll sleep easier." Sam replied as he closed his duffel and slung it over his shoulder. Dean did the same and threw his towel on the bed. After a harsh look from Sam, the towel was moved into the hamper.

The drive to Abrams was extremely long, tiring, and cramped, and the snow wasn't much help. By the time they got to a cheap motel in the town, they were traveling at a reduced speed of 10 mph due to the heavy snowfall.

"This is not normal. No matter which way we're facing, the snow's blowing right at us." Dean said in a half-whiny voice. After putting the car in 'park', he was lost to Sam's vision behind the violent whirling snow outside as he went to get a room.

* * *

Dean must've rung the service bell a dozen times before an old, scruffy-haired man emerged.

"Stop that damn bell! I ain't deaf." the man croaked.

Dean noticed a hearing aid and took his hand off the bell. "Right, sorry."

"What do you want?" the man asked, his voice hoarse and croakey-sounding,

"One room, two beds." he answered, glancing outside. He could just barely see his baby among the swirling lakes of ice.

"How long will you be staying?" the man asked, seemingly annoyed at the prospect of a paying customer.

Dean handed the guy a wad of cash, sliding it across the counter. "End of the week."

He was handed a sign in log and a key, and after scrawling down a hake name, he snatched up the key. He stuffed his hands in his pockets, preparing himself to brave the cold yet again. He walked briskly, yet carefully along the parking lot, only slipping on a patch of ice once this time. He returned to the Impala, parked in front of their room, and unlocked the door to their warm oasis.

He barely looked around at the décor before belly flopping on the closest bed, becoming dead to the world.

* * *

The sound of a snow plow rumbling by woke the Winchesters from their dead slumber.

After Dean left to grab breakfast, Sam scanned the local news.

"The string of arsons continued last night when local resident, Patricia Mackson, 78, was found dead by her daughter, Claire. Patricia, like the previous victims, was found in her bedroom. Tune in later tonight for more news on this tragic death." the reporter announced, her voice sounding like it was a forced type of sorrow.

Sam compiled his notes on the case. Three weeks ago: Jack Kelsy, 80 years old, Krakow, Wisconsin. Two weeks ago: Samantha Gradst, 30 years old, Chase, Wisconsin. Last week: Jennifer Samps, 54 years old, Abrams, Wisconsin. And now there was Patricia Mackson.

The door opened and Dean stepped inside, carrying a bag of food.

"I hate Wisconsin in the winter. Even if no snow is falling, traffic is slow." the older brother mumbled, taking a huge bite from his breakfast burrito as he tossed the other to Sam.

"So, there was another death last night." Sam announced, turning off the TV.

"What? We were supposed to have two days!" Dean said, almost spitting out his half-chewed wad of burrito.

"I know. The past three deaths have happened on a Wednesday, like clockwork, all in a different town. But our latest victim also lived in Abrams." Sam replied, his mouth free of half-chewed food.

"Does our latest vic have any connection to the previous vics?" Dean asked, swallowing another glob of burrito.

"Besides living in Abrams? No, not that I could find. All four victims are different ages, ethnicities, different social statuses, even different sexual orientations." Sam answered, clicking away on his laptop.

"So we got bubkis." Dean stated flatly.

"We might find something at Patricia's. Maybe whatever's doing this got sloppy." Sam said, turning off his laptop as he reached for his winter jacket.

* * *

A/N: Sorry, no Cas or Bobby or anything like that in this story. Just the Winchester brothers, and a monster to hunt!


	2. Chapter 2: The Investigation

Chapter Two: The Investigation

They pulled over by Patricia's house, pulling on gloves and grabbing their fake FBI badges. They flashed their badges as they approached the cops blocking off the driveway, and were allowed to enter the house.

"I'll check out upstairs, you talk to Claire." Sam said as he went for the staircase. When he entered the scorched bedroom, he performed all the routine tests: scan for EMF, check for sulfur, check for hex bags, and check for anything that could lead to something supernatural. Finding nothing, he checked the bathroom and guest bedroom, and came up empty-handed again. He went back downstairs, defeated, and found Dean talking to Claire in the kitchen. The brothers shared a look and Dean ended his talk, leading Sam outside.

"Find anything?" Dean asked.

"Nothing. No hex bags, no sulfur, no EMF, no anything! The entire second floor was clean." Sam said, opening the car door. They sat down and Dean started the engine, the heater on full blast.

"Claire tell you anything?" Sam asked.

"For her being 53 years old, she's smoking! Did you see her? I don't know what she's doing, but she looks…" Dean rambled, smiling to himself.

"Dude, she's almost twice your age." Sam cut in, grimacing at the thought of his brother hooking up with someone that old.

Dean's smile vanished, replaced with a frown of disapproval. "Fine. You want to talk business, we'll talk business. Claire, who is single, said her mom had no enemies of any kind. Never mentioned anything strange, either." he said, and drove off.

* * *

After dropping Sam off at the motel, he went to the local police station to look at Jennifer Sampson's files.

The Sheriff, a blonde haired, blue eyed man, gave him everything the station had on the recent death.

"Was anything found at the scene?" he asked, opening the police report.

"You mean besides that poor woman burned up on her bed? No." the Sheriff replied.

"Wait a minute…" Dean mumbled to himself, rereading the sentence he skimmed over. "Why was Claire Mackson there?"

"She was Jenny's best friend. Found the body when she went over to see why she didn't come to work." the Sheriff replied.

"Can I get copies of all this?" he asked.

"Anything for the feds." the man replied cheerfully.

Copied files in hand, he returned to the motel.

"You are not going to believe what I found out." he said, closing the door behind him, and sealing the cold from the room.

"I found something pretty wild, too." Sam said, turning in his chair.

"Claire and Jennifer were BFF's." Dean blurted, wanting to beat Sam to the headline news.

"They're more than that. They were twins." Sam said.

Dean raised his eyebrows. That was a big, _big_ revelation. "Come again? They didn't look alike to me."

"They were fraternal." Sam said after an eye roll. "Patricia gave Jennifer up for adoption, and kept Claire. Since Jennifer had her adoptive parents' name, I didn't make the connection."

"See if the other two vics are connected somehow." Dean instructed.

Sam typed and clicked away as Dean sat on his bed, impatiently waiting for results for about ten minutes.

"Samantha Gradst, the second victim, and also the youngest, was an employee at a local adoption agency, and get this, took over our first victim's position after he retired. I can't believe I missed all of this!" the younger brother explained, clearly frustrated with himself.

"Everyone has their mishaps, Sammy, but with you, it's funny as hell." Dean said, watching his brother's little tantrum.

"So what do you think is doing this?" Sam asked, calming down.

"Well, my money was on a pissed witch, but no hex bags at victim number four's house." Dean said.

"There were no supernatural indicators of anything. No forced entry." Sam added.

"No nothing." Dean said, looking outside in thought. "I think we should talk to Claire again." he said, looking back to Sam.

"And tell her what? 'Your best friend was actually your twin sister'?" Sam tried.

"You'll think of something." Dean said, grabbing his keys.

* * *

By the time they got to Claire's apartment, it was now lightly snowing out. Dean knocked on her door, and they were quickly allowed inside.

"Thanks for seeing us on such short notice." Dean said.

"No problem, agent. Oooh, you partner's a cutie pie as well." Claire said, eyeing them both up and down.

Sam glanced uncomfortably at Dean, then cleared his throat. "Ms. Mackson, there's no easy way to tell you this, but your friend, Jennifer, she was your… she was your sister." he said, watching for her reaction.

"I know." she stated matter-of-factly.

"You-you know?" Dean asked.

"From the moment we met, I knew she was my sister. Fraternal twin, actually." she said, sitting down across from the Winchesters.

"So, do you know about the spontaneous combustion victims in Chase and Krakow?" Sam asked.

"It's tragic. Doctor Kelsy was the man who dealt with Jen's adoption. God, he…" she stopped to dab away some tears. "He retired two years ago. The clinic didn't want to lose him, as old as he was. And after he moved to Krakow, I heard a younger woman took his place." she explained.

"Do you know if anyone was after Jennifer, or the doctors?" Sam asked.

"You think someone was after all three of them? And my mother? Am I next?" she asked, one hand shooting up to cover her mouth in shock.

"We'll make sure nothing happens to you." Dean said.

"Jen, she has a daughter in Chase. Can I call her…make sure she's okay?" Claire asked. The brothers nodded and Claire left.

"You stay here. I'll go check on the daughter." Dean said, excusing himself as he passed through Claire's kitchen, where she was making the phone call.

* * *

As day became night, Sam started to worry when Dean didn't call, or return. Claire had gone to bed an hour ago, so Sam researched to keep his mind from wandering to Dean's possible perils.

As if he jinxed it, Dean suddenly burst through the door, his pistol drawn.

"Dean, what are you-" Sam started.

"It's Olivia." Dean said, moving to the couch.

"Jennifer's daughter?" Sam asked. He didn't see that coming.

"Where' Claire?" Dean asked, looking around the room wildly.

"She's in her room. Look, no one's come by since you left." Sam replied. The fire alarm went off and the brothers ran to Claire's room. Smoke was pouring out from under the door and Dean kicked it open in one move.

As they waved away thick clouds of smoke, they saw Claire's corpse turning to ash before their watering eyes. The bed remained untouched by flame, along with the rest of the room. Olivia was nowhere to be seen, and the brothers were forced to retreat


	3. Chapter 3: The Hunt

Chapter Three: The Hunt

The brothers joined the crowd of residents outside momentarily before hurrying into the Impala.

"Poor bastards have to stand out in this? It' barely twenty degrees!" Dean said as he slowly drove down the road.

"What the hell happened back there? Why didn't you call to give me a heads up?" Sam asked.

"I'm sorry, Sam, but the bitch melted my phone." Dean replied, eyes glued to the slippery road.

"Melted?" Sam repeated.

"She's a little pyro! Threw a fireball right at me!" Dean insisted.

"So you're saying she's pyrokinetic?" Sam asked.

"Oh, definitely. And that's not all she can do – she can teleport." Dean replied.

"Teleport…and pyrokinesis? Those are two extremely rare supernatural conditions, it should be impossible for her to do both." Sam said.

"Yeah, well, she's got 'em both. I swear, trying to shoot her was like trying to play whack-a-mole, only the moles were on crack and breathed fire." Dean commented.

"So why did she kill her mom and the others, do you know?" Sam asked.

"Well, before she tried to charcoal me, she let that slip, which is how I made her. She said that when she was twelve, she found out she had those powers. Then she mumbled about experiments. I think Jennifer was a lab rat at the adoption center." Dean said.

"Well, well, well." a voice said from inside the car. Dean slammed on the brakes, swearing like a sailor as the car skidded along the icy road before finally coming to a rocky halt.

"Look who's putting the pieces of the puzzle together." a girl in the backseat said.

Sam and Dean pulled their guns on her; and Olivia looked from one Winchester to the other.

"My mom, she went through hell at that so-called 'adoption center'. If you two knuckleheads would've driven your happy asses over there, you'd know." she said.

"So why'd you kill her?" Sam asked.

"It was a coup de grace. She had nightmares every single night. The nightmares were actually memories. Good ol' doctor Jack adopted her just to do more experiments. For 18 years, she was in hell!" Olivia said, and both brothers noted how much warmer the Impala's interior was becoming.

"So you put her out of her misery; killed Jack in revenge. Why kill Samantha and your aunt?" Sam asked.

"Isn't it obvious?" Olivia asked, creating a tiny flame in her hand. The brothers stared in shock as they witnessed the act.

"Samantha was doing the same thing…she was experimenting. And Claire, my aunt, she knew. My mom told her about the experiments after all those years, and she brushed it off." Olivia said, snapping to extinguish the flame. "She ignored her own sister! How could she?! So, I killed her and the doctor bitch to put an end to all of this. My mother's in a better place, and everyone responsible for her pain burned, just like their souls will in Hell." she continued.

As Sam and Dean tried to figure out what to do, she winked at them and vanished.

After an awkward and shocked silence, the brothers faced each other.

"What do we do? Should we gank her?" Dean asked, not liking how unsure he was.

"Even if we do, and I'm not saying that, how would we find her? She could be in Mexico right now." Sam said.

Dean returned to driving and they soon reached the motel, reaching the conclusion that Olivia would be free to go.

With the apartment fire still blazing in the distance, they entered their room, shocked to find piles of ash on the table.

"I guess she covered up; doesn't want us digging around on her anymore." Sam said, grabbing the trash can to clean up.

There was a knock on the door and Dean opened it, one had pointing a gun behind the door.

The motel manager was standing outside, wearing thick layers of clothing. "Your friend Olivia asked me to give you a message." the man said.

"Okay." Dean said, looking at Sam for a second before turning back to the manager.

"She told me to say 'too easy'." he said, and left.

Dean closed the door, facing Sam with a look of disbelief and confusion. "Did we just get played?" he asked.

"Big time." Sam replied, sitting at the table with a sigh.

"So, what, she's just bat crap crazy? Just killing people she knows?" Dean asked.

"So what should we do?" Sam asked.

"We go after her." Dean said, grabbing his bag.

"What is this, de ja vu? We have no way of knowing where she is!" Sam said.

"Yes you do." Olivia said as she materialized in front of them in a blink of an eye. "And might I add that you two are unbelievable. I thought you were hunters. You two really didn't meet my expectations. I made chisel bod here the second I saw him." Olivia said, her hands now completely engulfed in fire.

"Chisel bod?" Dean repated softly, visibly disturbed by the fire hands.

"I can't live with you two knowing my secret." she said, narrowing her eyes in anger.

"Wait." Sam said, taking a step towards her.

"Tell your brother to drop his gun before I brand him with it." she snapped.

Sam looked at Dean, who hesitantly placed the gun on the bed. "There. We're unarmed. We won't go after you. We'll leave, okay?" Sam asked.

"I may be many things, but stupid isn't one of them." Olivia said, and the fire intensified on her hands.

"Tell me something. You had us fooled. We were going to let you live. Why come back and ruin it? It can't be because we're hunters. With all the evil in the world, we might've forgotten about you." Dean said.

"Hunters never forget. I know all about you guys. You're savage, relentless." Olivia said, looking Dean in the eye. She teleported next to him, placing one flaming hand on his face.

"NO!" Sam screamed, frozen in place as he watched Dean turn to ash as the flames spread. He tried to run forward, but his legs wouldn't move, wouldn't obey his mind.

Olivia took a couple steps towards him, her other hand still blazing. "Now, since you didn't try to kill me earlier, I'm only going to maim you." she said, leaning up next to him.

"Don't worry. It won't hurt." she whispered as her hand hovered over his chest.


	4. Chapter 4: The Reality

Chapter Four: The Reality

Doctor Clara Evanse arrived for work an hour early – there had been a recent influx of various ICU patients, and she wanted to get a full review of the new arrivals before her shift.

After putting her belongings in her locker, she and a nurse did a walk-through of the new patients. After making notes, both mental and literal, about the patients and their needs, she proceeded to start her shift. As she was heading to follow-up on yesterday's liver transplant recipient, she spotted a man in one of the rooms she had passed.

"Hey roomy." Alice greeted, smiling as she slid up next to her.

"Hey, Alice, what happened to this guy?" she asked.

The nurse looked into the room, and recognized the man. "He was brought in last week. Poor thing. Remember that car accident up by Abrams?"

"Of course, it was horrible." Clara replied.

"This guy, Sam, he's lucky he survived." Alice said.

"Oh god, he was in that?" she asked.

"He has first, second, and third degree burns to his torso, arms, and legs." Alice said, looking into the room again sadly.

"And so he was put in a medically induced coma. Standard protocol." Clara said, not realizing she was nodding at the recollection.

"No, we never got the chance, but perhaps it's best he's comatose." Alice said.

"What do you mean?" she asked.

"One of the seventeen fatalities was the man with him, his brother. They were halfway between Chase and Abrams before the accident. Their car caught fire, and the other man burned to death. It's so tragic." Alice said.

"Jesus…I wouldn't be surprised if he didn't wake up. Maybe he saw his brother die, and so the real world would just be too painful." Clara said.

"What's even sadder is he has no emergency contacts, no next of kin…he's all alone. I don't think I could imagine anything worse." Alice said.

Clara's pager went off and she glanced down at the screen.

"Code blue, I've gotta go." she said, hurrying away to the room that was given with the code alert.

Alice gave one last look into the room with the gauze-wrapped patient. "Sweet dreams…"

* * *

Sam regained consciousness on the floor, trying to blink away the fuzziness. The room soon focused into view, and he looked around. "Dean?" he called, not seeing his brother on the other bed.

"Let's get a move on, baby brother. Whatever's barbecuing those people in Wisconsin isn't going to wait for us to come around. Up and at 'em."

* * *

A/N: So there you go. Loved it, or despised it? Drop a review if you'd like. It'll mean the world to me!


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